makes winning less important, which i don't really like. maybe give the podium sitters more points, and it could work brilliantly.

give the podium sitters more points and you creep back towards the real points system. This shows the drivers that cautiously stay near the front and out of trouble as well as those who win. Kimi falls into this category so is doing well.

That was the problem with 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1, little incentive for 2nd to push for the win and risk losing 8 points. If you crashed, it took potentially 5 races to claw back to the winner (assuming they finished 2nd to your 1st each time). Now it's just over 3, when Prost and Senna were around it was either 3 or even 2.5 races.

That's when you know when a points system works, when it's worth pushing to win, but it doesn't take forever to catch up if it fails.

_________________"We can not drive slower, just to make the races more exciting." Alain Prost

I actually think this is more telling at the lower end of the table, as they all have identical points without having behavied identically. The inter-team order is what I'd expect too. Kovi > Petrov, Glock > Pic, Super Pedro > Narain. In rough terms, the performance gap between the two Caterhams and between the two Marussias is about the same. I rate Glock and Kovi similarly, so I guess that makes Pic pretty solid, to be roughly matching Petrov (apologies if that is totally unclear!).

Also, suprised Narain and Pedro are as close, but I'm a big Pedro fan so that is probably why I seem to think he is a lot better.

I actually think this is more telling at the lower end of the table, as they all have identical points without having behavied identically. The inter-team order is what I'd expect too. Kovi > Petrov, Glock > Pic, Super Pedro > Narain. In rough terms, the performance gap between the two Caterhams and between the two Marussias is about the same. I rate Glock and Kovi similarly, so I guess that makes Pic pretty solid, to be roughly matching Petrov (apologies if that is totally unclear!).

Also, suprised Narain and Pedro are as close, but I'm a big Pedro fan so that is probably why I seem to think he is a lot better.

One notable thing is also that there's a smaller difference between Schumi and Heikki, than what there is between Heikki and Petrov! But Schumi's DNFs are probably distorting that picture quite a lot.

So if Kimi finished third in the final 5 races he would be champion without ever winning a race.I don't think that has ever happened & it doesn't seem right.Seb or Fernando could win all the remaining races & yet not catch him.

_________________Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have the skill & the will but the will must be stronger than the skill. Muhammad Ali

As a point of interest, the past systems would have had the following effects [just to see if we can get a similar pattern from days gone by]:

8-6-4-3-2ALO-54VET-53HAM-40

10-6-4-3-2-1ALO-60VET-60HAM-46

10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1ALO-78VET-78HAM-59

So, in short, Raikkonen would never before have been in a position such as that stated by OB1. And if he was, it would strike me as an incredibly contrived result.

Having said that, looking at position changes across the season, overall the driver who has made up the most places over the season is Raikkonen, with 42, despite losing 10 places in China. Close behind him, due to attrition, are the HRT of Kathikeyan and Glock's Marussia, both with 40. At the other end of the table, with -85 [only 7 worse than Schumacher...] is Romain Grosjean. Thus it is fair to say Raikkonen has schooled his teammate more than anyone else has managed, and perhaps has taken the Lotus closer to it's limits than anyone else, with the possible exception at times of Alonso. I admit also that Massa doesn't contrast Alonso as much as Grosjean does for Raikkonen, but the data is still interesting, especially to those who think Kimi should be in the title hunt.

A really good system, one that gives another judgement measure of performance. Most of the official systems have been too flawed.I agree with those posters who want wins to count for a lot. They are so difficult to achieve. Seeing drivers cruising for points ruins races for me.A welcome new view: increased knowledge is increased enjoyment.

The alternate system here doesn't really encourage one way of racing to another. Kimi achieved 1 win and some solid overall performances, but not Win, Win, Win, Podium, Win, whereas Vettel and Alonso were victory and podium machines (Alonso was unbelievable at getting podiums) yet they all end up on the same points. It goes to show that the alternate system used here is good at allowing most approaches to achieve success. Well, except McLaren's "breakdown whilst in the lead" approach, there's no reality where that is rewarded.

_________________"You are the universe expressing itself as a Human for a little while..."

Such a points system goes against what i like to see, that being drivers being rewarded for race wins and podium positions, i even think the present points system errs to much towards collecting points on a consistent basis

Such a points system goes against what i like to see, that being drivers being rewarded for race wins and podium positions, i even think the present points system errs to much towards collecting points on a consistent basis

No points system is perfect. But even if you swap it about to the Ultimate reward for wins like Bernies Medal idea. Very rarely does it change the WDC. In fact not many points systems actually change the out come significantly.

Such a points system goes against what i like to see, that being drivers being rewarded for race wins and podium positions, i even think the present points system errs to much towards collecting points on a consistent basis

No points system is perfect. But even if you swap it about to the Ultimate reward for wins like Bernies Medal idea. Very rarely does it change the WDC. In fact not many points systems actually change the out come significantly.

Out of curiousity, has someone checked what the entire championship table would've looked like with the medal system?